22-11-23 PHOTOS: Croydon Westward

Each year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I head out to Amtrak's Northeast Corridor to take photos on what is often Amtrak's second busiest day of the year. In the not so distant past, Amtrak management would put a great deal of effort into expanding capacity to transport as many people as possible to their destinations. More recently the new management realized that it was far more profitable to just use dynamic pricing to cap capacity and just charge higher prices and as a result there is very little by way of extra trains or special consists on Thanksgiving Wednesday. Still, with nothing much better to do I nevertheless set out to continue the tradition if for no other reason than to visit the Dog & Bull Brewpub adjacent to the Croydon SEPTA station and with outdoor seating in view of the tracks. You can view the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

Upon arriving at Croydon I was disappointed to discover the Dog and Bull was closed for a second year in a row due to renovations. However I was also in time to catch a simultaneous westbound push-pull Keystone service train propelled by Amtrak ACS's-86 #669 and #613.

Up next was a second doubleheader with ACS's-86 #609 and #654 pulling what I believe was a pitifully short Silver Meteor Train 98 with just 2 sleepers and 3 Amfleet II coaches. In 2019 this train was running with 4 sleepers and 5 coaches and in 2021 it still had 3 sleepers and 4 coaches.

To avoid taking the same set of photos again I relocated a short ways down US 13 to get some photos from the other side of the adjacent milepost 69 signal bridge. Once in position I was stunned by a third doubleheaded Amtrak train in a row with ACS's-86 #628 and #612 leading a southbound Regional!

The Amtrak parade was then interrupted by a pair of SEPTA R7 Trenton locals with four car trains of Silverliners IV heading outbound and Silverliners V headed inbound. In years past SEPTA used to run 6 car R7 trains on this day.

Next up was an eastbound Keystone with ACS-86 #667 leading and Metroliner Cab Car #9040 on the rear.

This was followed by a pair of northbound Regionals, the first with ACS-86 #618 and the second with #649. Since I wasn't recording video this year I neglected to write down the numbers of the regional trains, but I suspect one of this back-to-back pair was a Virginia service train, either from Lynchburg or Norfolk.

Without the restaurant to keep me at Croydon, I decided to relocate 6 miles westward to the site of the Milepost 75 intermediate signal that also provided a good vantage point of the Torresdale S-Curve as seen below with class leading Acela Express power car #2000 on the rear of a northbound train.

Next was southbound Regional with ACS-86 #605.

In another incredible stroke of luck the next train was a southbound Acela with the very last power car, #2039, in the lead.

This was followed by westbound Pennsylvanian Train 43 with ACS-86 #655.

An hour had gone by so it was time for another pair of SEPTA R7 Trenton locals. The outbound had Silverliner IV #305 on the rear and the inbound was the same set I had seen earlier at Croydon with #361 leading.

My last train of the day was Veterans ACS-86 #642 pulling Silver Star Train 91 southbound.

So despite the lack of extra trains/equipment, I did get quite lucky regarding interesting trains and equipment with three doubleheaders, Veterans #642 and the both the first and last Acela Express power cars. Just goes to show that it often pays to get yourself out there. I know in 2023 I'll be back out at Croydon on Thanksgiving Wednesday if for no other than to get bite and a pint at one of the better NEC adjacent eateries.